The present invention relates to a retainer and to an assembly including the retainer for supporting a body on a frame, and is more particularly concerned with an assembly for supporting a side-visor on a frame such as a doorframe of a vehicle body.
An existing technique for attaching a side-visor will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. In FIG. 1, a side-visor 1 or 1A is bonded onto a doorframe 3 on the upper side of a window glass 2 or 2A with a double-sided adhesive tape or the like. In order to maintain the bonded condition of the side-visor or allow the side-visor to be held in its supported condition even if the adhesive tape peels off from the doorframe, the side-visor is fixed to the doorframe at two positions through a clip or the like. FIG. 2 shows a conventional side-visor support assembly 5 for maintaining the bonded condition of the side-visor 1 to the frame 3. FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line A—A in FIG. 1, and the side-visor 1 is illustrated therein in the condition after it is supported on the frame 3.
In FIG. 2, the frame 3 includes a holding portion (channel) 7 for allowing a sealing rubber (seal) 6 for receiving the window glass to be fitted therein, and a bonding portion 9 for allowing the upper portion of the side-visor 1 to be adhesively bonded thereonto. Part of the holding portion 7 located on the lower side of the bonding portion 9 also serves as a mounting portion 11 for allowing a retainer 10 of the side-visor support assembly 5 to be attached thereto. The retainer 10 is made of a metal plate member. To attach the side-visor 1 to the frame 3, the upper portion of the side-visor 1 is first fixed to the bonding portion 9 of the doorframe 3 with a double-sided adhesive tape or the like. Then, a curved fitting portion 13 of the retainer 10 is pushed into a protuberance of the mounting portion of the frame 3 to attach the retainer 10 to the frame. The retainer 10 has an extended portion 14 extending toward the rear surface of the side-visor 1, and the extended portion 14 is formed with a mounting hole conformable to a fastening hole formed in the side-visor 1. The sealing rubber 6 is then pushed into the holding portion 7 of the frame 3, arid held therein. Under this condition, the extended portion 14 of the retainer 14 and a side-visor-function portion of the side-visor 1 are fastened together between an engagement pin 15 and a clip 17 as shown by phantom lines (two-dot chain lines) to support the side-visor 1 on the frame 3 through the retainer 10 attached the frame 3. Thus, even if the side-visor 1 bonded to the frame 3 with an adhesive tape or the like peels off from the adhesive tape due to deterioration in its adhesive force, the clip 17 and the engagement pin 15 keep fastening the side-visor 1 and the retainer 10 to allow the side-visor 1 to be supported on the frame 3 through the retainer 10.
The above conventional side-visor support assembly is composed of the retainer fixed to the mounting portion of the frame, the clip placed on the rear surface of the side-visor, and the engagement pin inserted into the side-visor from the front surface of the side-visor and engaged with the clip. This side-visor support assembly provides a simplified structure for facilitating the side-visor attaching operation. However, it is not adjustable, so that a large number of different retainers are required for attaching side visors to various types of vehicles.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-124022 discloses a clip comprising a female member and a male member, wherein a component such as an assist grip is attached to a first panel such as a roof lining with the female member, and then, the female member is pushed into a second panel such as an automobile body panel while aligning the first panel with the second panel to temporarily attach the component to the second panel with a leg portion of the female member, and then the male member is inserted into the female member to fixedly attach the component to the second panel without wobbling movement. This clip is not suited for attaching a side-visor to a doorframe of a vehicle, particularly where accommodation to attachment of side-visors to different types of vehicle is required.